A communication system is a facility which facilitates the communication between two or more entities such as communication devices, network entities and other nodes. A communication system may be provided by one more interconnected networks. A communication device can be understood as a device provided with appropriate communication and control capabilities for enabling use thereof for communication with others parties. The communication may comprise, for example, communication of voice, electronic mail (email), text messages, data, multimedia and so on. A communication device typically enables a user of the device to receive and transmit communication via a communication system and can thus be used for accessing various service applications.
In cellular systems a network entity in the form of a base station provides a node for communication with mobile devices in one or more cells. A base station is often referred to as a ‘Node B’. There are many different techniques for processing signals for transmission between the base station and the user equipment. Typically the operation of a base station apparatus and other apparatus of an access system required for the communication is controlled by a particular control entity. The control entity is typically interconnected with other control entities of the particular communication network.
A non-limiting example of a type of access architecture is a concept known as the Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA), which is part of the Third Generation Partnership Project Long Term Evolution (3GPP LTE) standard.